


Noir

by Sesenka



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drama, Friendship, Humor, KH3 spoilers, M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Overprotective friends, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-01-07 06:00:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18404570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sesenka/pseuds/Sesenka
Summary: A year has passed since the fall of Xehanort and the consequences of them. Vanitas finds himself making his reappearance, against all odds, but when he catches sight of a certain blond with Ventus' face, he recognizes a familiar darkness in Roxas, and considers taking advantage of his similarity to him, but things don't really turn out as planned.Or do they?





	1. Serendipitous

**Author's Note:**

  * For [makesuretheyseemyface](https://archiveofourown.org/users/makesuretheyseemyface/gifts).



> I already know what it says in the Ultimania concerning Vanitas' fate, but have chosen the art of 'this is fanfiction land, anything can happen now'. Anyway, this is a fic request of sorts. 
> 
> Warning for a thing that happens in the fic is in tags, so heed them.

It's hard to believe it's been a year since the final battle.

 

After all that'd happened, Roxas can't say that he was unhappy—not at first. He was alive, so were his friends. It felt somewhat awkward after everything, however, seeing as Isa had somehow become a permanent member of their circle. He'd been aware that the other assisted in his—and Xion's—return. However, he couldn't help but notice the distance between him and Axel had grown.

 

He shouldn't care so much...but, he missed his friend greatly while forcibly remaining inside of Sora. He'd been hoping to play catch up, even—but it seemed Axel was much too busy doing that with Isa. Or...maybe he should start calling him “Lea” now.

 

Those were his thoughts now as he sat on a beach faraway from Twilight Town. It was now in the late afternoon and the other hadn't shown still, despite the fact that he said he would. The blond drew his knees close to himself and said softly, “Idiot. You forgot again.”

 

It wasn't until he received a text 30 minutes later with an apology from the red head saying that something had come up. It wasn't the first time it'd happened—what hurt worse was when Axel had invited him to see a movie alongside Isa, but they'd apparently had forgotten him. He'd went with Xion instead, but still it'd hurt—he began to wonder if...maybe this was what Isa had felt like.

 

That in of itself was a scary enough thought for the blond to just keep it to himself. He didn't want to become _anything_ like what Isa had. Still, there were feelings of jealousy and anger that stirred within the blond that threatened to bubble up only to burst outside of him. He didn't know if _that_ was normal, and he was worried if it symbolized that there was something wrong with him. He sighed, and kicked a can that had rolled right by him and narrowed his eyes at the cobblestone ground.

 

By this time, there were hardly any people about, but it wasn't a place the blond would want to be in his current state. He summoned a dark portal and easily stepped through and found himself at the beach down in Twilight Town.

 

He hadn't told anyone where he was, but he needn't do that. It wasn't like he'd get into any trouble—after Xehanort's nonsense settled down, there'd been less of a Heartless problem. And honestly, less of a problem in general. Though there were still a presence here of there—he sighed and placed himself down in front of the ocean's waves. The blond then pulled his knees together, before he moved one hand to begin skipping a rock.

 

Darkness formed in a spot some distance behind the blond until it gave form to a male in a helmet, clad in black-red wear. He stalked towards the other, stopping a respectable distance away. “What's this? Not with your friends, but all alone? Did they decide to abandon you after all of that?”

 

Roxas thew a rock across the water harder, watching it fall short. “Go away.”

 

Vanitas snorted—that's a new one. Maybe he could get the blond to fight him—he was itching for a good warm up and it'd be foolish to get complacent after he'd reformed. He inquired, tone mocking, “What's wrong, did I hit a nerve?”

 

Roxas didn't say anything, quietly blinking out the tears in his ears. If he spoke, Vanitas would know he'd been crying and the abuse would undoubtedly continue until it was unbearable. The other had caught him at a time he was emotionally vulnerable—which wasn't great, really. He'd never interacted with the other but heard stories enough to know he was bad news, but something had always nagged at him at the thought of someone with Sora's face willingly serving Xehanort.

 

Not that he could think much of it now. He just didn't want to give the other what he really desired—a fight. The best way to approach this would be to ignore him or just leave, and he didn't really want to leave the beach right now. So, he decided to pretend Vanitas had said nothing, skipping some more rocks across the water.

 

Vanitas noticed relatively swiftly that the other was trying to ignore him, or rather, was doing well in those efforts. He reached out to grab a hold of the blond's shoulder, turning him slightly towards him. Then, he saw it...Roxas' face, that is, and it was for a brief moment because Roxas slapped away his hand right after and looked forward once more.

 

It was clear to Vanitas that riling him up the traditional way wouldn't work. He releases an annoyed sigh. Then, he bent down to grab a hold of a rock and flung it—farther then any of Roxas' previous throws. He felt a bit of amusement when the blond's toss brought his rock about a hair close to his. Then, he threw another which went even farther—Roxas once again tried to match, falling behind one skip.

 

Vanitas said, “Too bad. Whether it's a fight or some other challenge, you can't hope to beat me.”

 

Roxas stood up and wiped at his face. Then he summoned both Oathkeeper and Oblivion. “We'll see about that.”

 

The black-haired male smirked behind his helmet. Just as planned. “I would.”

 

Then, he called Void Gear to him.

 

…

 

Roxas didn't know why he rose to the bait after all of that, or maybe he did. For a moment it'd allowed him to even forget what was bothering him...there was nothing wrong with that, right?

 

The downside was that his muscles were all sore, even after some generous healing, but besides that, the blond can't say he had any regrets. His destination right after that scuffle happened to be the mansion that used to be abandoned—it wasn't difficult to turn it into something vaguely habitable. It was also technically inhabited by Namine when she came on by—or Xion.

 

He had gotten stuff to occupy his time as well, and started his life as a 'normal boy' by going to school—at least when he did, he'd have Hayner, Pence, Xion, and Olette with him there.

 

At these thoughts, the blond plopped himself on the bed and picked up one of the books he'd left on the covers before heading out. As he turned the pages, he figured that maybe he was just overreacting to his own situation with Axel. It wasn't like he didn't have other friends, anyway.

 

Plus, it'll probably sort itself out in some way sometime soon.

 

After that reassurance, he fell asleep and dreamed...

 

It was such a strange dream. He was walking with someone on a beach, and it felt peaceful, happy. When he turned to try to face them, all he could vaguely tell was that they had black hair, and when he awoke, he felt well-rested.

 

However, try as he might, he couldn't recall anything of their face, with a little frustration. But, that didn't matter, did it? It was just a dream.

 

Roxas rubbed at his eyes, getting up and slowly grabbed his things he went to school, with a piece of toast in his mouth. Today was a blur like it usually was, but maybe today moreso because he felt his mind wandering constantly.

 

“Twilight Town to Roxas, you there?”

 

Roxas blinked at the hand waving in front of him and looked sheepish as his gaze laid on Hayner. “Uh...yeah.”

 

Olette asked, “What's been up with you, you've been...kind of out of it, today.”

 

“It's nothing; I think it's just because of all of those lectures, really.”

 

Pence said, “But today's not the first time either, and you've been kind of down all week...”

 

At that, the blond frowned. He didn't think they'd have noticed his attitude change, but he guessed he can't keep it from them. Instead the blond tried to smile and said, “It's...really not a big deal.”

 

They couldn't know...something like this felt embarrassing to just tell. The three gave him a look, though, and it made him cave. He said, “...It's Axel. We haven't had much time to hang out anymore—it's been kind of bumming me out. But, I'm sure he's just been busy—“

 

Olette huffed and said, 'Ever since his rodeo with Kairi I knew I didn't like him!”

 

Hayner added, “Yeah! Let's go and teach him a lesson—you never leave a friend behind.”

 

Pence nodded. “I'm right there with you guys.”

 

Roxas sighed loudly and said, “Guys, no. Just forget it.

 

Really, just... _don't_ . I'm asking you guys as a friend not to do anything, okay?”

 

Xion stood up and looked at the blond in question, whose eyes diverted away from hers once they met. She knew he wasn't being completely honest, but it was for good reason—at least that's what Roxas thought. Pence sighed and said, “Alright, or well, I guess I'm glad we're not going to do something crazy about it. I already had  _enough_ adventures going on, but...”

 

Olette finished for him, “...don't forget we're here for you, alright?”

 

Hayner crossed his arms, though. “Next time he messes with us he'll be getting the boot.”

 

Roxas rolled his eyes and elbowed him lightly, as he said, “Once is enough, thanks. So, what were we talking about before I spaced?”

 

The other blond proudly said, “Dates for the town dance?”

 

That just made Roxas grimace. “No thanks. I'm not even going to go.”

 

Hayner then amended, “Hey, hey, hey! I was just kidding. We could just go as friends.”

 

Olette smiled and said, “Yeah, we could do that. What do you think, Xion?”

 

Xion had just returned to gathering her things, but finished by the time she'd been asked, and turned to face the brunette with a smile. “I think that sounds like fun! I'm sure Roxas would also appreciate you guys not trying to set him up with another blind date.”

 

Pence and Hayner began whistling 'innocently'.

 

Olette just looked sheepish and said, “Anyways, we're all going to go. I mean, you don't have to come Roxas, but we finally have time to all hang out together again!”

 

Roxas still wasn't big on large, social outings, but it was true—the others had been busy with their own lives, or the dreaded culprit, homework. So he sighed, 'Alright, but no funny business, and we should hang out on the beach this weekend.”

 

He missed doing that honestly—and as they discussed their plans, Roxas forgot his troubles for a moment. After all, he was sure that he had something to look forward to tonight.

 

…

 

“Hey, Roxas, wait!”

 

The blond turned to face Xion who'd caught up with him as he was strolling in the halls and she looked kind of...disappointed. He figured he knew what she was going to say before she did. “It...doesn't look like he's coming for movie night.”

 

“I don't care anymore.”

 

Xion frowned. “Roxas...”

 

Roxas fell silent for a moment and then said, “I'll be there later.”

 

The blond then walked off, and Xion had nothing she could say in return, not knowing what could be said. But she clenched her fists tight—she'll have to have a talk with Axel.

 

…

 

Roxas released another sigh as he plopped himself down on a bench and looked up at the sky. There were a few stars peeking out—he couldn't believe he got so upset.

 

Now that he was here, he started to wonder if now that Isa was back with Axel as things had originally been with the two...if, maybe,  _he_ and Xion were just replacements. Still, it hurt to think that. It was because of Axel he'd even come out of his shell and became a person in the first place.

 

He put his head in his hands—he still didn't know what to do with things like this. This wasn't like anything he's ever experienced before. And he didn't want to lose one of his best friends! What could he do, though?!

 

“Your shadow will never abandon you—even when the light is eclipsed, it will stay with you until the day you die.”

 

Roxas looked up to see Vanitas had appear, the visor having all but dissipated so he could see his face clearly golden eyes looking on him, and his self-satisfied smirk on his lips. His heartbeat skipped.

 

A flash of last night's dream passed through his mind, of the person by his side, and the same smirk on his lips. Did he dream of Vanitas?

 

He asked carefully, “...What do you want?”

 

Vanitas still had that insufferable smirk on his face as he asked, “What do you think?”

 

The blond replied, “I'm not in the mood. Plus, I've been zoning out all day—not the best mental condition to go into a spar in.”

 

The black-haired male scoffed and rebutted, “You've fought in worse conditions.”

 

“I'm going home and then gonna go watch movies with Xion. If you have nothing else better to do, you can come and watch with us.”

 

Vanitas frowned, not expecting to be rebuffed that much, but he sensed he was going to get nowhere with this. He's never seen a movie before, and he's tempted to say no too, though...

 

Some cogs began to turn in his hand—he had a plan. Getting Roxas' trust was instrumental to it. “Lead the way.”

 

He felt a slight twinge of annoyance with the way the blond smiled a bit at that, but said nothing of it.

 

…

 

The dwelling the blond had was impressive—Vanitas recalled it also being a place of interest in Xehanort's plans. He saw the blond move to a room and then soon come out in a sleeveless black t-shirt and baggy gray pants. He had no shoes nor any socks either.

 

He also watched as Roxas took out one of those small things he saw “Sora” gallivanting around with when he was going from world to world and wanted to communicate with his friends afar. Not that it mattered now, since he was too busy being dead.

 

Roxas put away the device in his pocket, passing Vanitas another one of his quaint smiles. “She'll be over in a minute.”

 

Not even a moment after, a knock came from the door, and Roxas opened it, revealing a certain black-haired girl with almost indigo-colored irises. She saw Vanitas and frowned eyeing him warily. “Roxas, what's going on?”

 

The blond said, “Oh, he said he wanted to come and watch a movie with us.”

 

Vanitas simply crossed his arms, looking actually pretty disinterested, but allowed the blond that. Then he said, “Let's just get this over with.”

 

Xion blinked and said, “...he doesn't look like he wants to, and are you sure he can handle what we're going to watch?”

 

The black-haired male's eyes narrowed, making the raven-haired female keep a closer eye on him. But annoyance seeped into his voice as he spoke, “I can handle whatever weak nonsense the two of you will watch.”

 

Roxas and Xion exchanged glances and the latter said, “Alright, if you say so.”

 

Vanitas glared at her as he thought,  _What an idiot; I've proven myself able to handle much more than what a puppet can._ It wasn't very kind of him to think so and it was lucky he kept it to himself, as it would've undoubtedly conjured Roxas' abject ire.

 

Vanitas also found that this whole idea proved to truly test his resolve tonight. Especially since whatever was chosen had quite the scary elements and both of them also decided it was best to sit on either side of him. He rolled his eyes whenever either of them made noises of surprise or jumped in their seats.

 

At one point where there was screaming in the 'movie', Xion and Roxas hunched up close to him suddenly, making him tense, but as much as he loathed touch, it was light enough, and feeling their fear was … delightful. Then, he felt the blond's fingers clutch onto his left arm, causing him to tense further, until he felt those fingers move slightly. He rose a brow.

 

Roxas in the meanwhile, had been admittedly at first clinging a bit to the black-haired male in a bit of fear but his mind began to wander just a little, at how Vanitas could be so muscular. He'd took notice of it in their fight, but it was different up close—

 

Vanitas smirked and asked, “Jealous?”

 

The blond blushed a little, pulled away, and said, “No? I just... got surprised, that's all.”

 

As an irritance as it was before, it was better to humiliate the blond for his stupidity, and then he heard the sound from the TV. A large roar, that undeniably was akin to that of a dragon, and that startled him enough to make him forget what he was going to say to the blond. Roxas smiled, looking at the movie and then back at Vanitas. “...You got scared just then, didn't you?”

 

Something dark stirred in the pit of the dark-haired boy's stomach at those words, and he roughly shoved the blond, who just burst out into laughter. Xion smiled and said, “You don't have to be ashamed, it's natural.”

 

Except...it made him feel sick—his weakness. All of it did. “Shut up. Just keep watching the stupid movie.”

 

Xion frowned. “You don't need to be so mean about it.”

 

Vanitas decided not to answer her and Roxas frowned. “Vanitas—“

 

“—Remember, it was your idiotic idea in the first place. Maybe you should've thought better,” the black-haired male interrupted, putting a hand over his mouth. He felt like he was going to puke, but he restrained the emotions within him with a degree of effort, closing his eyes tight. Seeing the other like this made the two exchange a few worried looks.

 

Xion said, “Let's stop the movie. I'm in the mood for some ice cream anyway.”

 

Vanitas, unsurprisingly, declined the ice cream, insisting on letting the movie continue, but they wouldn't have it—deep down he was grudgingly grateful as he'd been _trying_ to hold back any Unversed from coming out. He let them just talk for awhile, and leaned against the couch, listening to them speak, hardly adding to their commentary.

 

Soon, Roxas bade Xion goodnight, and the black-haired girl gave Vanitas one too after she said as much to the blond. The being of darkness did not understand it, but he supposed he hadn't been as bad as he could've been.

 

Then, he followed the blond upstairs when Xion headed off to leave the house. He easily took one of the books off one of the shelves Roxas had, and the blond witnessed the action, smiling a little as he plopped himself on his own bed. “If you want to stay ov—“

 

“—No.”

 

“Alright then,” said the blond, beginning to grab some homework from some of the school books he'd brought home. As he was working on that, he heard Vanitas say, “I'm taking this.”

 

Before Roxas could protest the other being a book thief, he was gone in a spot of darkness. The blond tried to shout in time, “YOUR WELCOME...jerk...”

 

 

At least the math problems weren't  _too_ hard.

 

…

 

Roxas had his head on the desk in his homeroom right as his four friends filed in. Olette was the first to ask, “Roxas, what's wrong?”

 

The blond just groaned.

 

Hayner said, “That sure doesn't sound like a real answer. Oh, let me guess, you forgot to do your homework? I'll let you copy mine!”

 

Roxas muttered, “No offense, but I don't want to copy  _your_ homework—I'm all set anyway. It's...something else.”

 

Pence asked, “What is it?”

 

“No.”

 

Xion asked, “No?”

 

Roxas repeated, “No.”

 

This was officially the worst day of his life. Xion asked, “Is it embarrassing?”

 

The blond sighed and replied, “...Yeah. Vanitas took a book of mine, but … it was one I'd rather he'd not have. He's going to be making fun of me for  _days_ .”

 

Hayner's brows knitted together. “Who's Vanitas?”

 

Roxas lifted his head up and started, “He's...”

 

There was a pause. What  _was_ he to him? Well, they weren't t trying to kill each other and he'd gotten Vanitas to watch a movie with a friend...

 

“...a friend—a new one.”

 

Xion blinked, but hid her surprise...mostly. It was strange for her to think that someone who seemed so malevolent as playing nice. It worried her, honestly.

 

But at the same time...there'd been Isa and everyone who had been screwed over by Xehanort, right? So, maybe...

 

Olette smiled and said, “I'm sure it won't be  _too_ bad. Some harmless teasing never hurt anybody.”

 

Roxas groaned and dropped his head onto the desk again.

 

…

 

When school was over, he saw Vanitas waiting for him, casually leaning against a brickwall that was part of the barrier in front of the school. Surprisingly, he was wearing vaguely normal clothes—he was decked in a black jacket, a black shirt that showed a bit of his chest, and red pants. It made Roxas wonder when he went to the clothing store.

 

He made sure to come over to the blond, crossing the distance with ease and asked, “Ready to go?”

 

Roxas blinked and asked, “Where?”

 

“To a place where we can fight, obviously. Someone needs to keep you from becoming a weakling.”

 

Roxas made a small snort. “Based on last time we fought, I thought it was obvious I didn't.”

 

Vanitas smirked. “A draw means you're capable of just barely being a little more than  _nothing_ .”

 

The blond frowned, fingers tightening on his backpack, and as his friends emerged from the school doors, the blond said to them, “I'm going to hang out with a friend of mine. You all go home without me.”

 

Usually they walked home with each other separating from the group to go to their own routes, but Roxas felt insulted enough to take up Vanitas' offer. Among other things.

 

His friends looked worried, seeing the other's face and golden irises. Olette asked, “Are you sure?”

 

Hayner asked, “Why does he look like Sora?”

 

Roxas smiled and said, “It'll be okay—and it's a long story. I'll explain later.”

 

The other blond relented, though gave Vanitas a distrustful look, and said, “...alright.”

 

“I'll be okay, promise!”

 

Xion frowned, unable to keep some of the worry from earlier flowing back into her.

 

 

…

 

Unlike last time they clashed, Roxas found himself distracted. The words Vanitas said in order to insult him echoed repeatedly in his head even as their Keyblades clashed against each other's. He couldn't help it—he hated it when people insinuated he was nothing, even if it wasn't technically what Vanitas had said.

 

As a result, his strikes were harder, less coordinated, and most of all, violent. The blond felt a sick and twisted sense of satisfaction when his onslaught caught the other off-guard.

 

Vanitas had shifted back into his usual attire once they'd gone farther away from others—in the forest nearby Roxas' mansion. The clothes from earlier were 'borrowed' from a store, Roxas had heard, which he got to infer meant were stolen, and he'd told him not to do it again, but suspected it wouldn't have been enough.

 

At least despite the surprise Vanitas seemed to be taking the fight against him seriously.

 

“Something wrong?” Vanitas suddenly prompted, but Roxas knew from his tone it was meant to be more a jab then out of any, actual concern. The blond spat, “Maybe if you didn't run your mouth so much before and during a fight you'd figure it out.”

 

“Ouch, my poor feelings.”

 

“ _You weren't supposed to exist.”_

 

“ _Who are you talking to? Me? Or Sora?”_

 

“ _To half of Sora, of course.”_

 

“ _But it really has to be you.”_

 

“ _Roxas, you're you. We're not the same.”_

 

Why was he thinking about this now? He wasn't insecure about all of that anymore—he'd figured it all out when he'd been stuck in Sora. Except he can feel a wave of his own emotions overwhelming him—regret, anger, and a vacant, forced acceptance when he'd given up at being something...at being _someone_. All of those feelings he'd repressed when he was summoned to fight back in the final battle, and it just made him grit his teeth, and flash right into place in front of his opponent. But the other had reacted quick enough to knock Oblivion from his hands.

 

But it didn't keep Roxas from being able to get a hit on Vanitas—right in the chest—due to his quick movement. The black-haired boy grunted but stepped to the side to evade another swing and swung Void Gear straight into the blond's back, managing to position himself behind Roxas.

 

The blond stumbled, and Vanitas prepared another strike, only for it to be intercepted as the blond recalled Oblivion to his hand to block it. The sound of each Keyblade colliding against each other in the next moment created a sudden release of energy.

 

For one moment, Vanitas saw _something_.

 

Darkness, light, and something else entirely. An element of gray which was neither light not dark. It was interesting to say the least.

 

He smirked to himself...and maybe he should've expected that the blond would try something because before he knew it, Roxas had tackled him to the ground and then there was a Keyblade touching his throat.

 

He sighed as Roxas blinked and asked, “I won?”

 

“...Whatever.”

 

Roxas took that to mean he did, but as he got up, Vanitas made sure to kick him in the legs, and smirked when he rose to his feet. What a nice faceplant Roxas had just made—and before he could finish the thought, Vanitas followed suit when the blond grabbed one of his legs and pulled on it fast and hard.

 

Though maybe Roxas should've given it more thought as he ended up on top of the blond with a small grunt.

 

Roxas blinked from his position on the ground and when the two shifted to try to get away, Vanitas' hand slipped and grabbed the blond's bum instead, accidentally giving it a squeeze. Vanitas blinked slowly, realizing what he just did.

 

He opened his mouth, but he was too slow since when they finally got away from each other, Roxas' hand collided with his face first, giving his face a nice, bright, and red mark.

 

...They really were off to a great start, really.

 

…

 

“...Is this really all I have to do?”

 

Vanitas' grumbling hit Roxas' ears once more as the blond went through his clothing. Roxas said, “For all you're asking it's just a simple thing, and you're making it sound like it's trying to figure all iterations of Xehanort at once.”

 

He didn't notice the tensing of the other at that, given Roxas was rather busy, and then Vanitas 'tsk'd' and said, “Am not.”

 

The pinnacle of complete and utter maturity.

 

The black-haired boy was back in his so-called 'in public' gear—the clothes he'd stolen from a shop in Twilight Town. He heard the blond say, “Maybe if you were more careful and weren't a butterfingers, then you'd have gotten off easier.”

 

“... hurry up, or I'll just ditch you.”

 

“Don't you dare!”

 

Roxas slammed the door open and saw the other just smirking. The blond was wearing a red scarf with a light gray turtleneck and jeans. He said, “Let's go. I don't want us to be late!”

 

The blond summoned up a portal of darkness and the other followed him closeby, reminding himself that it was all for the Plan.

 

The place they entered was familiar at least, with a seemingly perpetual night sky hanging over them. There were fewer people meandering about here as opposed to Twilight Town's population. Though, that was common in a place like Traverse Town—quiet, unless someone went searching for trouble or if trouble somehow found you.

 

The blond passed Vanitas a smile and said, “Over here.”

 

There were a small group of people standing all along part of the area the blond directed him to. There was also a water foundation nearby the two, and then barely a moment afterwards, all the lights in town dimmed while some just shut off completely. The blond shouted, “Look up!”

 

Vanitas did and saw something like a small sprinkle of red dot into the sky, which then expanded into an explosion of array of bright crimson and white particles that brought a thunderous sound as it danced all across the sky before fading. It caught him in the moment well enough, and he didn't expect more to follow with other colors and different patterns, different sizes, and different shapes. He'd never admit to it, but he was enraptured and watched longer than he planned.

 

By the time it was almost over, he'd looked over at the blond, who gazed upon him with a soft smile.

 

A splash of light came over part of the blond's face from the last explosion of white in the sky, and it made Roxas' expression appear heavenly. He even started at the other longer than he anticipated, clearly and evidently distracted by him. The blond's eyes seemed to soften as he noticed Vanitas' longer stare, and a strange feeling ran through the black-haired male, who looked away immediately.

 

_What is this feeling...?_

 

He heard Roxas say, “You looked really amazed. I think that surprised me more than the fireworks.”

 

Vanitas felt his face hot and tried to will it to calm down. He was sure an Unversed had escaped into the crowd at some point. He said, “I've seen better.”

 

“You _can_ admit something surprised you or that you thought it was nice. It's just you and me here.”

 

Vanitas huffed and looked back at Roxas, asking, “Are you blind? There's a crowd of people here.”

 

Roxas still had that  ( **insufferable** ) smile on his face as he said, “But I'm the only one who'll hear you over the noise.”

 

It's probably true; the people around them could hardly care about what the two spoke. Then, he added, “It's not really a weakness either. And...I think people who can stare something in the eye – whether it's scary or whatever – and admit what they truly felt...are really strong people.”

 

Vanitas felt another emotion tighten in his chest, his eyes narrowing, but said nothing.

 

“ _It's not enough. You must feel more hatred, more **rage—** none of those pitiful, weak emotions that hold you back from gaining the strength to become the X-Blade!”_

 

_Again, Vanitas felt tears in his eyes as he coughed up the result of his recent failure, and his so-called Master stood over him. The next moment, he remembered that Keyblade brought him down, knocking him clean out._

 

He remembered feeling back then he was going to formulate a plan to take the X-Blade for himself and destroy Xehanort. He believed that his hatred, his negativity would help give him strength, as Xehanort prophesied, but he doubted the intentions of his Master—he'd been evidently so self-serving. But, even if he believed these things, his will to strike back faded when he'd been plucked out of the timeline into a replica body.

 

Until he realized that there was something he could gain from getting close to the blond.

 

It was strange that he'd thought of this now as the other said those things. But, he began to wonder, was there some truth to it? No matter how hard Xehanort fought, he could never truly defeat the light. Even when people betraying him seemed unable to prevent him from obtaining the X-Blade, he still  **lost** .

 

That was what Vanitas couldn't understand. Would that mean his plan would fail?

 

But...maybe not. His wasn't as grand as Xehanort's—all he needed was the trust of the blond and then that's when he'd struck. And, according to that 'book' he'd stolen, which he'd struggled to parse thanks to needing to self-teach himself some things, there's some actions he'd take based upon the advice there to help.

 

With that settled, he pushed aside the doubt, as Roxas seemed to sigh and then turn to summon another portal when they walked away from the others. Doubtlessly disappointed as the black-haired male didn't respond how he'd liked him to.

 

Then, the blond heard the other say, “It was better than what I expected at least.”

 

“See? Wasn't so hard.”

 

Vanitas scoffed and elbowed the blond once before they walked into the portal. At least the affair was also short—he couldn't imagine running around there for hours. He turned his back on the other when they arrived in front of the mansion, beginning to stalk off.

 

“Good night to you too,” Roxas added with a hint of teasing to his tone. But, smiled when he saw Vanitas rise a hand and let it fall before he dispersed into darkness.

 

…

 

Twilight Town as abuzz. There had been a new town hall built and they were using the new one for the celebration instead of the aged, old one. Roxas was dreading it even as he was walking to it with four of his friends, but before they entered the building, Xion pulled him aside. “I know this is last minute, but I got Axel promise to come over and play games with us. It'd be around 9:30 so we could just leave early...”

 

Roxas felt surprisingly conflicted—he was kind of mad at him for last time and really didn't want to see him. He'd even been ignoring the red head's texts, so he bet that had something to do with it, and this is why he's making a face, prompting his friend to say, “Come on Roxas. This is our chance to beat him in Smash together!”

 

_ That _ prompted a smile from the blond. “...Alright, you've got a point.”

 

At the very least it also gave him a reason to bail the dance early, as he knew it was going to go until midnight. Good thing it was a Friday, or Roxas was sure that parents might voice concerns.

 

Roxas was dressed in something relatively nice—a black vest, with a white blouse and stain dress pants, along with black dress shoes. Xion most definitely helped him pick out the outfit.

 

He made sure to tell his other friends about his and Xion's other engagement so that they didn't wonder.

 

The affair was less dancing at first and mostly socializing. He wasn't interested in doing too much of that except with his friends—so he stuck to the corner they were in. Up until dancing started and people were getting really into the mood—even Xion seemed caught up in it, exchanging some hands with a few boys and girls.

 

Before anyone could nudge him towards the dance floor or more conversation, Roxas slipped out of the ballroom, and headed towards a back exit he'd decided he would walk out and hang nearby until the whole thing “ended”. Or rather, until Xion would text him, telling him it was time to go.

 

He checked his phone and saw it was just 8:45, though and he sighed.

 

“What's wrong, no one wanted to dance with you? That's sad.”

 

Roxas looked over to see a familiar black-haired male in the clothing he stole from before. He was standing on top of a tree in the small foresty portion of the area (which also had a pond), but not for long as he jumped down, landing immaculately on his feet like a cat. The blond released a soft noise of annoyance. “...More like there's nobody I wanna even dance with.”

 

Where he stood allowed the moon's light to place the light on his back, bringing his shadow to the front. A dark being cast in the moonlight...it was beautiful.

 

Roxas felt his face flush a little at the thought and shook his head. There's no way he'd really be into him like  _ that _ .

 

“Even me?”

 

At Vanitas' question, Roxas felt a semblance of shock. But he reasoned the other was just...joking, so folded his arms across his chest, feeling annoyance well up in him as he muttered, “Stop joking around.”

 

Vanitas then paused, the smirk on his lips falling quickly, and he stepped closer to the blond, as he said, “I'm not joking.”

 

Before the blond realized what was happening, the other had taken one of his hands, pulling him towards the pond, Roxas stumbling a bit at first, but the blond reached out with one hand to grab onto the other male. It was a clumsy action, though it was because it was in surprise, confused at what was even happening.

 

Their feet gently rest on top of the pool of water, and did not sink—he could sense darkness and presumed it was because of a spell Vanitas cast. Roxas had thought for a moment he was dreaming, but now that Vanitas moved, his other hand on the other's hip, the blond followed the movements. He asked, “When'd you learn how to dance?”

 

Vanitas said, “When I was giving those idiots trouble, I picked up something while they were on some stupid world where this dumb girl was crying, giving the Unversed plenty of negative emotion to feed off of.”

 

The Unversed had plainly seen the people dancing during Cinderella's Ball. It was an image that still felt clear as day to the male, even if it were long ago to everyone else. Learning movements were easy to replicate, thanks to the training he'd received from Xehanort—it was an ingrained habit out of figuring out that if he didn't get up to speed quick enough, he'd be in unfathomable pain. Roxas blinked and then said, “You're...really talented, Vani.”

 

For some reason, the words made Vanitas feel...disgusting good, but he chalked it up to his ego naturally being fed. Pride. Still, he wondered... has anyone ever said anything like that to him before?

 

He frowned. Of course not.

 

Vanitas decides to twirl Roxas around, wondering if he might...compliment him again.

 

For a moment, he could see Roxas' amazement and giddiness—it was palpable, but then it faded into a vague expression of worry. He must have noticed the fade in his demeanor. “Vanitas? What's wrong?”

 

“Nothing. C'mon let's just keep at it. Bet no one ever did this for you before, huh?”

 

Roxas laughed a little and said, “Mm, yeah...”

 

It was a nice laugh. Vanitas liked it more than he'd admit, and he wouldn't exactly say aloud that he'd want to hear it again.

 

The blond then asked, “When'd you learn how to make us float on water like this?”

 

Vanitas smirked and said, “Secret.”

 

Roxas smiled and said, “I'm going to keep bothering you until you tell me.”

 

Vanitas rolled his eyes. Well, he supposed it didn't matter—there wouldn't  _ be _ a Roxas by the end of this Long Game of his. So he said, “Just a little bit of darkness—that which your side is absolutely is allergic to using.”

 

Roxas snorted. “Well, obviously. I can sense that. But, that being said, we use a fair amount of darkness here. I mean,Sora did, so do Isa, Xion with the dark portals, and … Axel does too.”

 

He saw his expression fall at that. He purposefully also left out Riku's name. Then he added, “And me.”

 

Vanitas asked, “What's with the long face? More trouble in paradise with your friend? Or are you still mourning Sora?”

 

The blond stopped moving and said softly, “It doesn't matter.”

 

Vanitas paused and asked, “Why not? We're...”

 

He made a face. “...'friends', aren't we?”

 

At that, Roxas smiled again, though it was softer than his earlier one. He said, “...Yeah. It's really nice of you to think of us as friends—but, um. I miss my Other, it's true, but at the same time I have faith that somewhere out there, he's okay, and we'll find him someday.

 

...Axel's been a bit of a jerk lately—I figured at first he wanted to catch up with Isa, but it looks like that and he seems to constantly forget Xion and I exist. It's not Isa's fault, really, but Axel just bailing and not giving a heads up last minute on top of barely being around us to even chat is wearing on me.”

 

Roxas sighed, moving to sit down on the water with Vanitas joining him and said, “He was my first friend—the one who made me able to feel anything and become my own person. So, it hurts, a lot.

 

Tonight, Xion wrangled him into hanging out with us, but...I'm still mad at him. So, I'm not sure how that'll go.”

 

Then he said, “It's strange, I wouldn't usually tell many people this, but for some reason...I get the feeling I can tell you. Maybe it's because of our connection through Sora, but it feels like I can relate to you somehow.”

 

Vanitas scoffed. So is that the only reason Roxas had been putting up with him? Not that he cared, it was convenient for him. He then said, “Don't show up.”

 

The blond gave him a Look, which drew a harsh, loud laugh from Vanitas. “I'm obviously kidding.”

 

Roxas felt his phone buzz and looked down at it—Vanitas in the meanwhile was curious about something. He slipped an arm around the other's shoulders and saw a soft blush appear on the blond's cheeks. But Roxas tried to appear inattentive, reading his texts.

 

So, he wasn't wrong. Roxas felt something towards him, didn't he?

 

He grinned, teeth sharp. Perfect.

 

Roxas then began to stand, and Vanitas let go, following suit.”Looks like I need to go...my friends are going to be coming this way.”

 

The blond paused and then said with a slight smile, “Thanks for the dance, Vanitas. I think I might've enjoyed party a little because of it.”

 

“Yeah, whatever. Have fun with your friends.”

 

Roxas blinked, and then looked contemplative, and opened his mouth before deciding to just close it. At that time, Axel and Xion came through the door the blond had thirty minutes ago.

 

Vanitas felt an urge to do something to provoke a response from the two and suddenly pulled the blond close to him ( _like he read how it was done in that 'book' he stole_ ) and kissed Roxas on his cheek. He noted the shocked look on Xion's face and the narrow of green irises for a second. He then smirked as he stepped back into a portal of darkness.

 

The blond felt his face turn beet red and then fell into the pond as the others came over. Xion asked, “...Are you okay?”

 

She reached to help him up and he nodded. “Y-Yeah...”

 

As he came out of the pond, draining water from his shoes, he made annoyed mental notation that Vanitas didn't show him how to stand on the water yet. And he also...kissed him, leaving him like that?

 

Jerk.

 

Xion took a look around and said, “...I can see why you'd want to sneak out on a date with someone—it's a nice place!”

 

Roxas nearly faceplanted into the grass and he hurriedly said, “It—it's not a date! We just happened to meet up because I didn't really wanna dance, and I found him out here...”

 

He felt his face flushed and his heart racing, thinking back to the kiss again. Wasn't Vanitas just messing around? But, he remembered when he put his arm over his shoulder, and the feeling of happiness he'd felt. Though, he didn't miss the relieved look on the red head's face, which kind of annoyed him, but he didn't know why just yet.

 

Axel patted him on the shoulder. “Sounds like he has a crush on you, Rox.”

 

Oh. _Oh_.

 

Of course and the dance—Roxas looked even more embarrassed if it were possible and said, “Let's just forget about it and get going! I think I got all the water out of my shoes anyway...”

 

But he kept thinking about it. If Vanitas liked him, then he wondered about the feelings he'd been confused about. Does that mean if he did like him after all he'd have a chance...?

 

Roxas shook the thoughts away. He didn't think he'd be the type to fall in love...if that is what it was.

 

He looked over to the red head who directed with his arms towards their walkway out of the foresty area. “Then might as well get going, Your Highness.”

 

Roxas whacked the red head on the shoulder after rolling his eyes.

 

When they arrived at Roxas' place, the three began setting up for the game. Axel asked, “So, is he type or...”

 

The blond nearly tripped on his feet as he said that and shot the red head a fierce glare, who held his hands up. “I was just askin'.”

 

Roxas huffed and said, “He's not. I – we're just friends, okay?”

 

He wasn't sure if he wanted it to be just that, though. But he didn't want to think about it right now.

 

“Whatever you say, buddy.”

 

The blond crossed his arms. “Xion let's leave it up to Axel to finish putting it together.”

 

'Sounds like a great idea! Want to go grab some ice cream from the kitchen?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“H-hey! So cold...”

 

…

 

The rest of the night went along as Roxas thought it might. Xion and him constantly teamed up against their best friend in revenge, and by the end of the night all he could say was that they had fun. Though it became time for the red head to leave. Before he did, he spoke up, saying, “Hey, Roxas, Xion?”

 

“Hm?” The blond looked up from watching some of the shows that they'd just turned on after the games on TV—Xion also looked up from her spot nearby the blond on the couch.

 

Axel rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry, about before.”

 

Roxas puffed his cheeks out. “You owe us a ton of sea salt ice cream, and another day of hanging out.”

 

Xion nodded. “Also, other stuff when we come up with more.”

 

“Yeah!”

 

It's times like these that Axel's reminded that they had simplistic desires at heart. Not that he minded.

 

Then Roxas said, “Maybe we should have Vanitas come with us next time.”

 

Xion smiled and said, “We could always use a fourth player. His reactions during the movie were _really_ surprising too...so maybe some movie watching with him too?”

 

Axel frowned and asked, “...He hasn't tried anything weird, has he?”  
  


Roxas snorted. “Uh, no? What would he even try these days, Xehanort's gone.”

 

“ _Still_ , he was Xehanort's apprentice, wasn't he?”

 

The blond rolled his eyes. “You worry too much.”

 

The red head shrugged, looking to give it up for now, but decided he would keep on eye on this. Just in case.

 

…

 

Today had gone miserably.

 

Roxas groaned as he was placed in his bed wishing everything could stop spinning. He also squinted through the blurs of images in front of himself and saw a lot of black among the vague shapes in his room. He...assumed it was someone he knew by the fact he'd heard people talk about transporting him home.

 

First day back at school turned out to be shit because someone decided it'd be fun to 'prank' Roxas by offering him some juice they'd laced with...something. He asked,”Xion...izzat you?”

 

“No. Guess again.”

 

“V...Vani...? Where's everyone...?”

 

Vanitas seemed to drift closer—that's what the black splotches indicated anyway—and sat on top of the bed, shifting the weight somewhat. “Being investigated to make it fair.”

 

Roxas predictably protested. “But, none of my friends would ever...”

 

The other male asked, “Are you sure? Couldn't been as innocent as not knowing the ef—“

 

The blond interrupted, “—I _know_ they would never, okay?! Just stop it...stop it...”

 

The black-haired male frowned, wondering at the pulling feeling at his chest at hearing the blond making soft noises to indicate he was crying. Usually, he would enjoy someone's despair—but hearing Roxas irritated (surely that was it) him even if he had to strain his ears to hear it.

 

He went downstairs, raiding the kitchen until he found the ice cream in the fridge, and brought it upstairs. When he set it on the bed, after opening the top, he heard the other ask, “...Vanitas, what's that?”

 

“Ice cream—you can still eat that, can't you?”

 

The blond seemed to be looking vaguely in Vanitas' direction, a small smile on his lips. “You know, the nurse said I should rest and be careful of eating things so I could let it pass easier.”

 

Vanitas snorted and said, “Well, if you eat ice cream, you'll probably have to pee, and it'll come out that way.”

 

He heard Roxas laugh-snort and say, “ _Vani_ , that sounds—“

 

“—Well, am I wrong?”

 

The blond shook his head. “I don't really know, maybe it can't hurt...”

 

There was a quiet that came between the two of them, before he said, “Thanks for trying to cheer me up and helping me back home.”

 

Vanitas scoffed. “I only did it because it's irritating hearing you cry—and your friends practically would've whined if I hadn't brought you back.”

 

Roxas said softly, “You didn't have to, but you did it anyway. And that's what matters.”

 

His blue eyes closed and the blond still had a gentle smile on his face which served to stop whatever aggressive words that had threatened to tumble from Vanitas' mouth at first. He reasoned with himself it's because he had fallen asleep and he didn't want to wake him up. Plus, he was only acting this nice because of the Plan.

 

...Vanitas reached over to brush a few locks from the other's face.

 

Yeah. Totally part of the Plan.

 


	2. Closure

Roxas opened his eyes and saw figures coming into shape before forming into something more solid. The blond blinked through the dredges of sleep still clinging to him and looked to the side to see a certain black-haired boy leaning against the bed, sitting on the floor. He heard the soft sound of a barely audible snore.

 

Vanitas _snores_!

 

The blond let out a small laugh and then immediately covered his mouth with a hand. Then he crept out of bed carefully as to not wake the other and headed downstairs. He was awfully hungry and wanted to make something to eat. He also brought his phone because of course he did.

 

It was clear to see by the multitude of messages from his friends that they were okay and mentioned that it was some kid responsible for it who got suspended for it. He also saw questions asking how he was doing.

 

...There were a few annoying ones teasing about him and Vanitas that made him blush. Just for that though, he's going to wait until tomorrow to respond, and when he can think of a good come back.

 

He started fiddling with the stove in the kitchen and put on some late night rice. He heard someone ask, “Should you really be up? It'd be a pain if your 'friends' whined because you fell and hit your head.”

 

Roxas rose a brow before an amused look appeared on his face. “I'll be fine. You don't need to worry.”

 

He kind of enjoyed the sudden befuddled look on his companion's face. “I-I'm not worried.”

 

Was...that a blush? No, Roxas is sure he imagined it—

 

A sudden flash back came back to him, however.

 

“ _Sounds like he has a crush on you, Rox.”_

 

_...Oh_ . Right.

 

Well, he could still tease him anyway, right? He said, “Whatever you say, Vani.”

 

“Ugh. I'm leaving you to die.”

 

Roxas laughed and said, “Alright, but before you leave, you should try some rice with butter. It's good.”

 

The most surprising part about it all is that the other didn't decline at all...and he felt his heart race when he ate it and didn't complain. Maybe those feelings of Vanitas' were mutual after all...

 

…

 

Roxas was allowed a day of rest but he returned to school the following day despite Vanitas' badgering about being allowed to take the rest of the year off. Really, it was cute that he was so concerned for him (that is how he read it), but he'd prefer to not get so behind in school.

 

People attempted to crowd him, but his friends thankfully built a pretty solid blockade around his desk so he could get some peace.

 

As he sat in Worlds History, his mind easily drifted, pen still in his mouth as he daydreamed about a certain someone. He imagined Vanitas smiling at him, and holding his hand...a soft blush tinted his cheeks as he even imagined a gentle kiss.

 

He wondered about the other some more. He couldn't help it—he wanted to know more about Vanitas now more than ever...and it really  _did_ feel like they held some kind of bond in a way he can't put into words. Maybe it was because of his ties to Sora and Ventus...or maybe it just wasn't that—they'd experienced similar things. Being created and Xehanort trying to use them.

 

He wondered how Vanitas had felt about that.

 

“Twilight Town to Roxas, it's time for Lunch!”

 

“Huh?”

 

The blond looked up and Hayner snickered. “Man, you got it bad. C'mon let's get going—I'm test-tasting anything you grab, though.”

 

The blond stood up and said, “I'll be fine. Let's just go before all the good stuff's gone.”

 

…

 

The day went better than what Roxas expected, until he noticed it was pouring outside when he walked out of the building with his friends. But, it seemed at least all of his friends had actually paid attention to the weather, since one by one they began to open up their umbrellas...except for him. He just smiled sheepishly when they looked at them. “I wasn't really paying attention this morning to the forecast...”

 

Xion smiled and said, “Mine's big enough to shield the bother of us, so it's fine. We all walk each other back home anyway.”

 

Roxas nodded and gave a small 'thanks' up until he noticed a certain someone waiting at the school gate with a red umbrella. Olette whispered, “Your prince is here.”

 

“Shush! Geez...”

 

But, as Vanitas stood there, he felt time slow down and...

 

Roxas hurried forward, hardly noticed the other tipping the umbrella in his hands slightly so the rain drops wouldn't soak his head. Then, Roxas took a breath and looked Vanitas square in the eyes as he said, “I...I really like you, so...can we go out?”

 

He can't believe he just did that! Or maybe he did, he was always the type of person to be forward and up front about what he wanted or liked when he was sure of it. He was afraid he'd sound so stupid and Vanitas would laugh at his face or get rejected. All likely possibilities, especially when he saw the black-haired male's expression. A smirk had suddenly appeared and Roxas' hands almost flew to his own ears in order to be sure to block out the ridicule that was sure to come, as well as shut his eyes tight.

 

“Used to rejection, huh? That's another thing we have in common,” muttered Vanitas, quietly, but loud enough for the blond to hear him. It made Roxas' eyes snap open and he pulled his hands down—the black-haired male then let go of the umbrella, forcing the blond to catch it. Roxas held it over them as Vanitas grabbed his face by his hands and kissed him roughly on his lips.

 

He heard the sounds of people cheering and remembered where exactly where he was...especially when he heard a very enthusiastic 'whoop' from Hayner...though he also heard another person's whoop that sounded like someone being  _too_ enthusiastic. He became more sure of that when he saw people carrying someone who fainted from the excitement out of the corner of his eyes.

 

Vanitas raised a brow slowly after they pulled away and said, “Your friends are—”

 

Roxas sighed. “Embarrassing, I know. But, I like them anyway...”

 

And really, he felt his smile hurt his cheeks from how big it'd grown. He can't believe something like this was happening. He could just melt from how happy he was...

 

…

 

After they'd gotten back, the two had barely made it up the stairs and into Roxas' room, being so generous with their touching that they almost forgot about the world around them.

 

Roxas had found himself kissing Vanitas gently, arms around the black-haired male's shoulders as the other's hands roamed over his body, pressing himself against the smaller boy eagerly. His hand then slipped in between the both of them, fingers digging in the cloth to grope the blond harshly through the front of his pants, easily managing to catch his clothed length in his hands, making Roxas gasp and moan into the kiss. The feel of it all was so overwhelming to the blond, but he didn't think twice about any of this.

 

He never realized how much he wanted it until Vanitas was all over him like this, and he felt himself become easily hard from his first time doing any of this, a flush reaching his cheeks. The kiss was deepened, and then Roxas' pants were suddenly falling to his ankles, with Vanitas' hand squeezing his cock through his underwear. His hips jerked forward as the other male's hand continued to grope him roughly and firmly, moving against him as he did so. A few loud moans fell into the other's mouth, and he could feel the front of his boxers become damp, desperate breaths being pushed through his nose.

 

His knees practically bucked and he gasped when Vanitas pulled away from the kiss, his fingers squeezing the blond incessantly, and a whimper escaped Roxas' lips as he felt himself orgasm in his boxers.

 

Vanitas didn't stop there, bringing the blond over to the bed in his room and making sure that he was lying over it. Roxas bit his lip as he saw the other hike down his boxers and planted kisses all along his chest until he went lower...

 

“Vanitas—!!”

 

Roxas threw his head back as he felt him engulf his cock into his mouth and mercilessly took all of him in like it was such an easy thing. The warmth surrounding his length felt incredible! His hips bucked, unable to keep himself from thrusting into Vanitas' mouth, wanting more of it. He cried out as Vanitas sucked  _hard_ , and his hands went to rub his balls. He wasn't going to last long like this, and the other seemed to sense that, pulling away from him, licking his lips. He heard the other male say darkly, “Looks like you're ready to—”

 

“W-wait, you can't just...do that without...you know...” Roxas said quickly and Vanitas' eyebrows furrowed. “I need lube...”

 

Vanitas blinked a little, pausing, and asked,“Where'd you put it?”

 

Roxas blushed and said, “...On my desk.”

 

Luckily it didn't take long for the other to come back with it—the blond was less inconspicuous with these items than he thought he was...or that's what Vanitas assumed since he found it quick enough. “...How do I even use this?”

 

“You...just stick your fingers inside and make sure you use a lot of it.”

 

Sounded simple enough—Vanitas even smirked when he saw the other still laid over the bed and pressed his fingers inside. It wasn't difficult to start a rhythm once the blond was accustomed to it, pushing in and out with ease at one point, and then thinking to slip in a third for extra insurance. When his fingers slipped in easily and he heard Roxas moan, he pulled them out, and grabbed the blond so he was standing up.

 

Roxas kissed Vanitas hard as the other backed him up into the wall and had to let go when he forced him to face it, so he could easily slide his pants off and thrust his cock inside, loving the feel of how Roxas' walls hugged his length enough to let out a moan. He heard a yelp from the blond who suddenly needed to brace against the wall. “N-not so rough...”

 

Vanitas didn't have much patience, but he listened ( _for him_ ), pushing in and out slowly until he was able to slide his member completely inside, and heard a choked moan from the blond. Right after, he picked up the pace, and his cockhead pressed up against the Nobody's prostate, causing Roxas to cry out, his legs trembling as his cock began to drip precum, which easily hit the floor at a steady rate. Vanitas decided to assume a punishing rate, a deep moan escaping him, the tight and heat surrounding his cock feeling  _incredible_ .

 

Roxas gasped and moaned as each thrust now pounded hard against his spot enough to make his head hang down, the pleasure feeling overwhelming, a stab of it coursing through him on each thrust. He whimpered as he bucked when Vanitas grabbed his hips to give him more leverage to fuck harder into the blond. He didn't notice Vanitas' hand slip downwards until his fingers wrapped around his hard, leaking cock, which made him cry out when the black-haired male jerked it roughly in the palm of his hand. His thumb swiped over the blond's tip before rubbing over it, making Roxas bite his lip and then squeeze his eyes shut as he felt himself about to explode with pleasure. “I-I'm going to—!!”

 

Vanitas gave a merciless thrust as he gasped and shot his cum inside of the blond, his hand involuntarily squeezed Roxas' dripping cock _hard_ , easily wrenching another cry of pleasure from Roxas, and making him orgasm again, white ribbons splattering against the wall in front of him as his blue eyes rolled up.

 

The blond fell back into the black-haired male's arms, who caught him with ease, and helped him to the bathroom so they could both clean up.

 

…

 

 

“...Can you tell me what it was like being under Xehanort? I heard from the others what you were like—fighting against _them_ , but I want to hear it from your side.”

 

Roxas' voice piped up after the two had climbed into bed and Vanitas frowned, but he saw no reason to hide it. “You sure you should be trusting me to tell you anything?”

 

The blond gave him a look like he had two heads, making the black-haired male feel … embarrassed for some reason. Vanitas asked, “Why're you looking at me like  _that_ ?”

 

“Because I thought it was a given I trusted you given what we just did?”

 

Vanitas huffed, and he just treated himself to the imagination of how shocked Roxas would feel when he felt  _nothing_ for him. It was all just a giant ploy, to get what he wanted.

 

But, at the thought, he felt some squeezing sensation in his chest and it hurt. It was a struggle to keep from summoning an Unversed too—he didn't understand this at all. And then there were suddenly two Hareraisers in the room and he groaned internally—

 

“—Vanitas? Are you okay? If I asked about something you didn't want to talk about, I—”

 

Vanitas got annoyed, feeling he could handle it just fine, and snapped, “ _No_ , it's fine.

 

Being under Xehanort is about fun as you'd expect. Tedious, painful, but rewarding if you want to learn how to exceed your limits. It's also irritating if he believes you're his ally, because he'll rip your sorry excuse for an existence out of space-time to make sure you're there with him again.”

 

Roxas frowned and asked, “...So it wasn't worth it, was it?”

 

Vanitas' gaze flickered away from him. “If I—if Ventus was stronger, it would've been. I—we—would've become the X-blade and he wouldn't have split us in half.”

 

There was a tense silence as the other male looked back at him with a sharp, maddened grin clear on his face and it reached his eyes. “And he's the one who would've been torn asunder—him and everything else.”

 

Vanitas expected Roxas to at least be horrified, but then felt the other's lips gently against his and heard him mutter, “I'm glad he's gone.”

 

That just made him snort. “I was wondering if someone hadn't forgiven him. No wonder I don't hate you.”

 

“Anyone who did is stupid. He caused a lot of hurt—even if it wasn't 'himself' directly involved, he had his influence in tearing apart the lives of so many people...it's horrible.”

 

Vanitas hummed lightly to himself and then asked, “What was it like, being under that Nobody of his? Xemnas, that is.”

 

The blond looked thoughtful. “At first, it felt easy. When I was born, I knew nothing, and he told us that we, as Nobodies, had no hearts or emotions. Because I didn't know any better and no one else knew but him and Xigbar, it was easy to follow.

 

Of course, things got messy when I realized he was messing around with us and didn't even have a single care for it.

 

Not only that but of course...as I found out later, Nobodies  _did_ have hearts and emotions—but I also figured out the hard way that Xemnas wasn't the only one who thought that. So, for awhile it was rough. I'm...just happy now that it's over.”

 

Vanitas looked at him and then fixed his gaze over at the window and said, “Sounds like some of that's familiar—but we still have our differences. Unlike you, I can't become much of anything unless I merged with someone.”

 

Roxas felt his hands clutch the sheets tighter, remembering what 'Ansem' as 'DiZ' said about him being only 'part of Sora'. That he'd needed to stop existing so Sora could become whole. He asked, “Why do you think that?”

 

The other scoffed. “I'm a being of negativity; I can't feel positive emotions due to being incomplete and can't  _be_ anything more than that. I can feel Ventus' positivity or whatever, that's about it.”

 

Roxas blinked and asked in a seemingly innocent voice, “Then what about 'this'? What about...'us'?”

 

The other paused at the question and realized that this was the moment. He could break the blond's heart into pieces, and tell him that he felt nothing for him the entire time—that he was just leading him on. Instead, he sat there with his mouth slightly open like a stupid, gaping fish. So smooth.

 

Roxas laughed a little and asked, “You ever feel triumph before? The warm feeling when we kissed, or whenever you laughed?”

 

Vanitas' expression turned into a sneer. “Just because I 'laugh' doesn't mean I feel all...mushy and goody-goody or whatever about it.”

 

The blond said, “Just because you're feeling something positive doesn't mean it has to be all-encompassing and overwhelming. Sometimes for me it's something subtle, like a fleeting small piece of happiness. Sometimes, I'm not aware I'm even feeling it in the first place.”

 

Vanitas' eyes narrowed and one of his hands shot out to the other's neck and Roxas caught it by the wrist. “I don't really know who you think I am, Vanitas. But I want to say that I'm my own person, and whatever you've thought of me before you've really gotten to know me probably isn't all that accurate. And it's probably the same for me with you since I've only really heard of you through other people. But, that's okay. I want to get to know you more, and I hope you feel the same.”

 

The other snarled, snatching back his hand as he snapped, “What the hell do you know?!”

 

“I know you're practically naked,” pointed out the blond with a grin and made the other stop in his thought process, giving Roxas a look that asked 'What are you, five?', but Roxas continued, “Also that if you try to merge with any one of my friends or whatever, it won't work.”

 

“Oh really, why not?”

 

Part of Roxas wished they had this conversation before any of this happened. But no, life couldn't be that easy, could it?

 

Roxas replied, “Because I'd kick your butt and break up with you.

 

If...by some chance you were considering doing the same to me, I'd still kick your butt and break up with you.

 

I'm only bringing this up because I know what you've done before, but I also know that you have a chance to be more than what Xehanort tried to make of you. And...because I love you.”

 

Vanitas felt his throat close up tight, at the last part, but also remembered when Aqua had the actual balls to take him on despite the fact he'd temporarily overridden Ventus' consciousness in his own body. Why hadn't he thought this through before? As he stared into blue eyes that didn't seem false, he saw a gentleness, but also something else as well—a toughness he wasn't able to place before. Something even different from Ventus', and more concrete.

 

The black-haired male guessed that if he were there at their final confrontation that Roxas would've pressed harder than Ventus and Sora combined. He could see it now.

 

Damn, he felt like such a fool.

 

“Whatever,” Vanitas plopped his head down against the other pillow on the bed. He literally had no idea what to do now—he could always end up breaking up with Roxas, but every time he tried to think of going through it, he couldn't force the words out.

 

He didn't understand.

 

“Vanitas,” he heard Roxas speak, “I don't think merging with someone is the only way to help.”

 

Vanitas scoffed again and said, “You're right. At this point, the only way to really ensure that I never need help again is to involve the X-Blade and wipe my miserable exi—“

 

Roxas snapped, “ _Shut up!_ Don't just talk about ending it like that so easily, okay?!”

 

The sudden loud exclamation surprised the black-haired male enough that the words died in his throat, and when he turned to look at Roxas, who was sitting up still, he didn't anticipate the amount of fury in his eyes. But when Roxas spoke, his voice cracked, “I'll ask Yen Sid. He'll help.”

 

“No you won't.”

 

Annoyance seeped into the blond's voice when he asked, “Why not?”

 

Vanitas laughed bitterly. “Because he'd just kill me on the  _spot_ instead.”

 

Roxas blinked and asked, “...You're scared that he'd do something like th—“

 

“—Forget it. I'll go with you just to prove how much of a waste of time it is.”

 

The blond sighed and then moved, kissing the other on his lips. When he pulled away, he saw the mildly surprised look on his face. The other asked, “...You still want to...?”

 

Roxas stared, confused and said, “Uh...yeah? Why would I just leave you now?”

 

Vanitas replied, “Because you found out I was  _probably_ planning on doing something horrible? Maybe even to you?”

 

The blond shrugged. “But you didn't.”

 

Vanitas said, “So far.”

 

Roxas echoed his statement easily, “So far.”

 

The black-haired male stared at Roxas and said, “...You know, I'd been thinking that you weren't stupid like the rest of the people you knew, but looks like I was wrong.”

 

Roxas lips quirk upwards slightly and Vanitas wasn't sure if he liked it or not. “Wow, what a coincidence? I was thinking the same about you.”

 

A vein popped on Vanitas' head and a Flood was added to the Hareraisers in the room. He grabbed a pillow and hit Roxas with it, who just laughed and said, “You want to start a pillow fight? You're ON!”

 

The two swung pillows at each other, laughs coming mostly from Roxas (with a few from Vanitas at different portions, though he wouldn't admit it.) They were witnessed and heard only by the Unversed watching raptly. The Flood clapped their small hands at the sight.

 

…

 

“Another fight?” asked Roxas, who was putting on a coat. He had some grocery shopping to do, after all; the black-haired male beside him nodded.

 

“Don't want to get out of practice or anything—especially if the _Master_ tries anything.”

 

Roxas sighed. “He's not going to try anything—and if he does, he'll have me to answer to as well.”

 

Admittedly, Roxas was wary towards adults he hadn't known very well. Especially since he'd experienced a lot of betrayal at their hands. Technically, he didn't know Yen Sid all that well since he'd only met him face to face once.

 

That and he'd been treated like trash by some of Sora's so-called allies before.

 

The blond faced Vanitas and took one of his hands into both of his own, saying, “Trust me. We'll get through this together.”

 

A soft flush tinted Vanitas' cheeks and he looked away.

 

His hand was trembling, but Roxas offered him a smile, which he must've noticed somehow because the shaking lessened.

 

…

 

Roxas had been placing some things into the carriage—almond milk first (due to being lactose intolerant), cereal, veggies, and large bags of rice. Oh, eggs and fish too. He heard a familiar voice ask, “What about this?”

 

Roxas blinked and looked over at Vanitas, who held a box of doughnuts, which made him smile. He reached over and put them into the cart, saying, “For you, sure.”

 

He felt a tingle of amusement when he saw Vanitas' ears grow red and it was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen. He heard Vanitas mutter, “Stop that.”

 

“Stop what?”

 

Roxas laughed when he felt Vanitas push him a little.

 

Vanitas sulked a little about how unfair it was that Roxas got to embarrass himself so much as of late. He was planning on returning the favor, however, tenfold.

 

...After getting him to buy a few more snacks for himself, that is.

 

…

 

After putting away groceries, the blond had a bunch of paper and books surrounding him. Vanitas inched closer, up until he was right behind him. “Hey, what're you doing?”

 

“Studying for next week's test. Wanna help?”

 

Vanitas said, “No.”

 

“Okay, butthead.”

 

The raven-haired boy blinked slowly and asked, “What did you just call me?”

 

Roxas repeated, “A butthead.”

 

Vanitas then reached over and ruffled the other's hair, making the blond laugh a little. Anyone else who'd dare do that might have lost their hand.

 

Okay, probably not, but still.

 

But Vanitas did not sit down and pointed out a few things he noticed Roxas had skipped over.

 

When he was done and headed back to bed, he smiled when Vanitas followed him back.

 

“Good night, Vanitas.”

 

“...Whatever. Just go to sleep, Roxas.”

 

…

 

Axel had been walking in Twilight Town with Isa and chatting with him—it was just them on a normal date doing some sight seeing after having visited Xion. “And this idiot just comes  _running_ out of the sore with all of this stuff in his hands. Best part is I was just turning so he gets clocked in the face...”

 

The words cut off because the red head caught a certain red and black-clad male knock one of the keyblades Roxas had from his hands. It was in a clearing a bit of ways from them, away from most people, and in the afternoon. He wouldn't have even seen it if he hadn't been visiting with Isa today.

 

The red head said, “—actually, looks like there's trouble.”

 

Isa nodded and the red head ran over to catch up with the other two, the blue-haired male following quietly just in case he needed to let off a surprise attack.

 

Axel summoned his Keyblade, but in order to save time, he changed it into his two chakrams, throwing them straight at Vanitas.

 

Always having good reflexes, Vanitas twisted his body out of the way of one of them. However, he'd experienced enough fatigue and had too short of a time to properly dodge out of the way for the second.

 

The second chakram caught Vanitas in the shoulder, the sharp edges tearing for him to grunt but otherwise move to point Keyblade at Axel. A burst of dark fireballs shot out from his weapon, heading towards the red head, who danced around them, and made to strike with his Keyblade.

 

Roxas stepped in between the both of them, swinging Oblivion to block Axel's attack and Oathkeeper to intercept Vanitas'. Axel exclaimed, “Roxas?! Why'd you step—”

 

Roxas said, “—Because you attacked him when we're just sparring!”

 

The blond looked at Vanitas and said, 'We'll have to finish this another time.”

 

That made Axel lower his Keyblade, but Vanitas still kept his eyes on Axel just in case. Isa came up behind them and the red head rubbed the back of his head.

 

Isa said, “Somehow I'm not surprised any of this happened.”

 

Vanitas grit his teeth and said, “I get it. Might want to watch out in case I decide not to show mercy and kill him.”

 

Before anyone could say anything, Vanitas vanished into a portal of darkness, leaving the others behind. Isa frowned and Axel said, “Look, it didn't look good from where I was at—”

 

Roxas snapped, “ _I know._ I'm going to go find him and if you actually want to apologize, come with me.”

 

He then sighed and muttered, “Of course you're around  _now_ ...”

 

“Hey!”

 

…

 

The Keyblade Graveyard was like a home—the only one he'd truly ever known. Memories of a distant past haunted him but the pieces from that time were hard to put together. Yet, as he sat here, legs dangling off a cliff, he'd feel some familiarity sensed from the abandoned keyblades.

 

Something that even Xehanort could never hope to feel.

 

He was born here, so often he'd thought it wouldn't be too much of a surprise that he would die here. But somehow beyond all odds, he'd reformed from the negative feelings of those still lingering in Radiant Garden. People still suffered in their hearts from the darkness that had once fell on the land due to Xehanort's influence; even rebuilding the structures wouldn't take away the emotional pain.

 

He warred with himself, wondering about what happened earlier. What would the others think, he wondered, upon knowing he was with Roxas? Would they take him away...?

 

Was there an actual chance of things 'working out'?

 

He'd gotten so close to Roxas instead of destroying him—did that mean Xehanort was wrong all along? That there was more to him than 'just darkness' or 'negatively'?

 

For once in a very long time, Vanitas felt an absurd amount of confusion.

 

Was it all worth it? Would—

 

“There you are,” came a voice from a certain red head and Vanitas said nothing, sensing the blond's presence as well.

 

“Look, I'm sorry. I ma—”

 

“Shut up and just go.”

 

“Vani—”

 

Vanitas snapped, “ _No._ Just go. Leave me  _**alone** _ !”

 

A slew of Unversed spewed right out of the black-haired male and Roxas, sighed, saying, “...just go. You have a natural talent in making everything worse without even trying...”

 

The red head gave a long, suffering sigh, muttering, “Can't win 'em all...”

 

Then he left in a dark corridor, seeing as he had his black leather coat with him.

 

Vanitas opened his mouth to say something but Roxas held up two tickets on hand, making the words keep from being formed. Instead he scrutinized the tickets and asked, “...What are those?”

 

“Tickets to Disney Town. It's been on my mind, but I've always wanted to go with someone on a date.”

 

Vanitas' expression shifted into a scowl. “As if I would go to a place like  _that_ .”

 

…

 

The colors in the town were bright, pretty, and definitely eye-catching. It'd also expanded from how it was back in the day, with Vanitas noticing new buildings here or there. There were more attractions and activities available to the public as well, and he was dragged over to a few of them by the blond. It appeared the reason for all of the hustle and bustle seemed to be that there was a celebration going on, so there was more to do than usual.

 

This is how he came to stand in front of a pathetic fishing game. He huffed and said, “I'm not playing this stupid game.”

 

Roxas blinked and asked, “Afraid you won't catch as many fish as I do?”

 

Soon, Vanitas found himself stuck in the game he scorned. Boyfriend or not, he'd never allow himself to be  _humiliated_ ; a game like this was simple, no more no less.

 

But his fighting the fish lasted longer than he expected—the first time the damn thing slipped out he grunted in annoyance. The second time, he gritted his teeth and the third time, he twitched and swore.

 

A few Flood popped up along with one Red Hot Chili Pepper—Roxas pulled him away before he destroyed the stand, saying, “Maybe we'll come back to this one...”

 

The blond then blinked as he noticed a test of strength and pointed at that. “Hey, Vani, what about that?”

 

The black-haired boy huffed, looking disinterested. “I don't need to prove how strong I am—”

 

He stopped when he noticed a sign and squinted at it.

 

'Prize: Lifetime aware of Sea-salt ice cream'.

 

Vanitas saw the blond looking elsewhere and hummed in thought. “...Maybe I'll give it a try.”

 

“What made you change your mind?”

 

“No reason,” Vanitas muttered.

 

The black-haired male picked up the hammer and slammed it down onto the spot he was supposed to. He smirked as it immediately hit the bell, designating him as a victor, the strength meter clearly overcome by his own hands.

 

The Flood clapped their tiny hands as well as did everyone else hanging out nearby. One person whooped in the crowd too and Roxas faced Vanitas, saying, “I think I hit pretty hard when I came here before, but not as hard as you did.”

 

If it were with his Keyblades, though...  
  


“What do you mean I cheated?!”

 

The blond came back into reality and saw Vanitas arguing with the rabbit who seemed to be the owner of the game. “Sorry kid, there's just no way you did that with your bare hands.”

 

Vanitas growled and the accompanying Unversed seemed to react in kind, surrounding the guy who let out a noise of surprise. “Eeek, help, monsters!”

 

Roxas said snidely, “Hey, if you just give him the prize, I'm sure those guys will go away. Just a point of advice.”

 

The rabbit blinked and said, “F-fine!”

 

And he couldn't believe it, the Unversed backed away!

 

The rabbit then gave Vanitas a shiny card and said, “Use this at any ice cream shop and they'll give you free ice cream whenever. It never expires, ever.”

 

Vanitas sneered as he snatched it and asked, “Was that so hard, you—”

 

An airplane passed in the sky at Vanitas' next words, conveniently blocking them out. He really hated this place—already he can tell his Unversed entourage had wandered off...as was common whenever he'd come here in the past.

 

He'll turn to face Roxas and hand the card to Roxas, saying, “For you.”

 

Roxas took it, looking surprised and smiled, a soft blush tinting his cheeks before he leaned to press a kiss to Vanitas' cheek. “You're the best boyfriend, Vani...thanks!”

 

Vanitas blushed and the two heard collective 'awes' from the people in the area. God, people were such busy bodies.

 

The rabbit muttered, “Gross.”

 

A sharp 'ahem' made the rabbit tense up and the source of it was a certain little mouse in a large, poofy pink dress and a crown. Queen Minnie.

 

She asked, “What did I just hear?”

 

The rabbit cleared his throat and said, “It was the most beautiful display of love I'd ever seen!”

 

She looked satisfied and said, “Thought so.”

 

Then she turned to face Roxas and Vanitas, smiling at them and said, “I hope that you two are enjoying the celebrations. It's been a year since Xehanort's defeat and everyone thought to make it a good day for some cheer!”

 

Vanitas shifted awkwardly and turned around but Roxas grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks. “Thanks, Queen Minnie. Both of us have been having fun and I think we  _all_ deserve to be here.”

 

Queen Minnie smiled softly, catching on and said, “Of course.  _Both_ of you are always welcome.”

 

Vanitas said nothing, feeling his face grow hot but for an entirely different reason than earlier. He heard the lady come closer and say, “I've heard of you, dear. Everyone deserves a chance to start over, don't they? You included—so I wish you two all the luck.”

 

She went off and Roxas smiled at Vanitas, who said, “She doesn't know what she's talking about.”

 

Then the blond frowned and said, “But I know, Vanitas.”

 

Vanitas felt a lot of emotions well up. Excitement, anger, happiness, disgust, humiliation,and too many others to identify properly. “No, you don't. You don't—”

 

The black-haired boy covered his mouth, beginning to feel sick and barely registered Roxas guiding him away from the crowd. Probably for the best before he does something to make the festivities hell instead.

 

He felt himself slide down the wall in the alleyway they went into and then Roxas moved forward to catch him into his arms. “Roxas,” he gasped, “you  _might_ want to stand back.”

 

“...Why?”

 

Vanitas groaned. “Unless you want me to make a mess on your clothing—”

 

Roxas shifted and the other coughed up something  _horrid_ , enough for the blond to worry about the inky black substance that had no form. “...Maybe we should head back—”

 

“No,” Vanitas rasped, wiping his mouth, “You wanted to spend time here.”

 

And despite it all, despite his own reservations, he'd been having  _fun_ . So had Roxas. “Okay, but we're leaving after the last ride, okay?”

 

Vanitas rolled his eyes but followed the blond nonetheless. “With something like me—“

 

Roxas frowned and interrupted, “If you're about to say something terrible about yourself... just stop.”

 

Vanitas wanted to argue but at the same time, he didn't. So he ultimately decided to keep quiet until they reached the Ferris Wheel. “Remember, last ride before we go home.”

 

“Yeah, okay, _mom_.”

 

The black-haired male smirked when he received a light slap on his shoulder for his trouble and followed Roxas into one of the seats in front of them. When it started moving, he shifted and pressed his hands against the window, looking out to see the view.

 

He wasn't disappointed.

 

There were some fireworks going off and it was a much grander sight than from when they were on ground looking up. Pretty mesmerizing, even, but Vanitas managed to pull away to look over at Roxas.

 

The blond was besides himself with the sights and his eyes looked like bright stars. For a moment, he watched the other some more, feeling the warmth in his chest that seemed to eclipse his current, almost crippling pain. He said, “Hey...”

 

Roxas turned his head to face him. “Hm?”

 

Vanitas leaned forward and pressed his lips against the blond when he looked at him, kissing him as the fireworks went off in the background. More gentler than he's ever done before, and there were a lot of emotions stirring within him...his self-hatred, anger, frustration, hopelessness...but also something else. That feeling of warmth, which he was trying to chase all day today, and his eyesight became blurry.

 

After the kiss, he felt the blond pull him into an embrace silently, hands moving through his hair. Roxas said, “It's okay, let it out.”

 

So, he did. For the first time in so many years, he was allowed to cry without being disparaged—he was allowed to let loose and have someone comfort him, and though he felt humiliated and weak, he didn't  _want_ to stop. He didn't want Roxas to let him go.

 

He let out a sob, his body trembling against the blond. He felt so tired, and he was so tired of being alone...

 

It was painfully clear to him how much Xehanort had lied. He didn't feel stronger for all of his hatred, his sorrow, or isolation. He always felt lacking in comparison to Ventus and now even the others...now he knew why.

 

But now he wondered, did he deserve it? Did he deserve kindness, after being so cruel? His actions in the end were his own.

 

Their turn on the ride ended before Vanitas could think anymore but he felt Roxas help steady him, and didn't protest even if all of inside of him did. Accepting help was a sign of  _weakness_ , and the thought came before he could stop it, even if he was too tired to resist, and didn't want to. He let the blond help him out, even though he felt weak kneed.

 

At least not many people were there, and so Vanitas allowed himself to relax and lean against the blond.

 

…

 

The next morning, Vanitas saw Roxas off and went about waiting for the other. But he could never claim to have much patience, especially not when he became accustomed to the blond's presence. He was also pretty curious about the school he went to, so he decided that it can't hurt to 'drop by', and it shouldn't be a difficult affair.

 

The halls of the school were expansive, but deathly silent—he easily crossed them and it didn't take long...for him to get lost.

 

“Hey, what're you doing, wandering outside of class?”

 

Some man approached him and Vanitas gave him enough of a nasty glare that it made him taken aback. He sneered and lied, “...It's my first day here.”

 

Hopefully that'll be enough of a good one and explanation so it doesn't become too troublesome. But the man sighed and said, “Let's get you back to your class, then.”

 

He reached for Vanitas, who smacked away his hand and he could see the offended look which only made the black-haired male tense. Luckily, the bells went off and kids immediately started pouring into the halls.

 

Roxas also caught sight of the two, hurrying over to the other. He gave the teacher a blank look and then tugged Vanitas along. It wasn't too difficult to get some private time due to it being lunch for the blond.

 

When Roxas asked him why he'd snuck in, Vanitas had answered, “It got boring.”

 

Roxas snorted and kissed his cheek. “You just wanted to see me, didn't you? It's okay...I think we can fool the school into thinking you're a junior too, just for today. And this is a chance for you to get more acquainted with my friends.”

 

Vanitas blushed a bit and huffed. “Whatever. I don't care.”

 

Just then, four of the blond's friends filtered in and sat down – Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Xion.

 

Hayner spoke first. “Well, look who it is! I'm Hayner, one of Roxas' best friends. That's Pence, Olette, and X—“

 

Vanitas interrupted, “—I know who she is.”

 

The blond shrugged but then offered a hand to him. “Welcome to the rest of us, then.”

 

Vanitas snorted and flicked at the hand, making Hayner draw it away, saying, “Hey!”

 

Then he said, “Dude, you're supposed to shake it...”

 

Roxas shook his head. “Just give it up, he's not that type of person.”

 

“He has a point,” The sullen black-haired male in question added.

 

Hayner rolled his eyes and then said, “Oh yeah and if you hurt Roxas, we'll all kick your behind so hard you'll be feeling it into next week.”

 

Vanitas let out a sudden, harsh laugh that made him need to lean against Roxas for a bit. Hayner actually looked offended and Pence said, “Something tells me it wouldn't exactly work out...”

 

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Pence.”

 

The dark-haired boy shook his head and said with a smile, “I don't think getting along with Vanitas isn't impossible, though. Roxas did, so why can't we just be friends?”

 

Vanitas muttered, “Don't bother.”

 

Roxas nudged him and Xion said, “I think it's possible. I've spent some time with him and it went just fine. Besides, Roxas has told me from time to time how much love he's been treated with.

 

It's hard to dislike him after hearing that...”

 

Vanitas debated whether he should hide his face in Roxas' shoulder instead or kill everyone in here due to being witnesses. “I'm going to kill all of you and hide all the bodies so well everyone will believe it was a kidnapping.”

 

Olette laugh and said, “I think you embarrassed him, Xion.”

 

“I could always do worse!”

 

Roxas quickly said, “How about no?”

 

Vanitas felt a semblance of relief. Somehow he felt Xion would have made good on her words.

 

Olette then asked, “Hey, how about we go visit the beach this week! It'll be fun.”

 

Roxas nodded and added, “Yeah, all of us could go. Wanna come, Vani?”

 

Vanitas scowled and replied, “No.”

 

The blue-eyed boy looked at the rest, a smile of his own on his lips. “We'll be there.”

 

…

 

For the rest of the day Vanitas was a menace. He threw papers at other kids' heads and tripped up others in hallways until Roxas nagged at him to stop.

 

It was a good thing he wasn't a real student.

 

They'd decided to head to the beach right after—homework had been light and Roxas supposed it was because summer was fast approaching. Much to his pleasant surprise, Vanitas also decided to accompany them, and didn't seem as grouchy about it as he was earlier.

 

Maybe Vanitas really would like to make some more friends and at that, he could only smile. It drew his partner's attention who asked with a raise of a brow, “What's gotten you into such a good mood?”

 

Roxas' smile only widened. “Seeing you here, that's what.”

 

Vanitas' face colored and he looked away—when he looked back at Roxas, he saw him shove Hayner into the water and snorted. As the two wrestled with each other, Olette approached and asked, “Sooo, a piece of munny for your thoughts?”

 

The black-haired male scoffed. “It cost way more than a piece of munny to say what I'd rather keep away from all of _you_.”

 

Olette put her hands on her hips. “You act like hanging around us is so bad. But, you're here anyway, so you can't really think that.”

 

Vanitas replied, “I'm only here because he is.”

 

Then he took a pause, eyesight falling upon Hayner and Roxas again, and asked, “How did you all become friends?”

 

The brunette looked thoughtful and replied, “Well, it's a little complicated. Roxas knew us because he'd been trapped in a digital world by Ansem the Wise, and he met other versions of us there? And there he'd always been their friends.

 

So, I guess that memory became recorded in our hearts—our friendship, that is. I … really don't know how to explain, but none of us have ever thought it was wrong or felt it was strange. It just was.

 

Of course, it's different for Xion since she was in that Organization with him, but that's the basic rundown of things, anyway.”

 

The black-haired boy silently watched as Pence and Xion joined the blonds in their horsing around. He then said, “You know what I did. Why would you want to be a friend with something like me?”

 

For once, Olette didn't hear any sarcasm in Vanitas' voice. The question sound so matter-of-fact that it seemed like there was no room for questioning. But, she knew better. She said, “I don't really know what you did, besides maybe be on Xehanort's side? But, so was Xion, and even Roxas was in a way. Even if it was probably different...still, Roxas gave you a chance, so why wouldn't we?”

 

“Idiots,” Vanitas muttered, and she just smiled at him.

 

Olette said, “Well, I'm going to get some ice cream for everyone. If you want something besides sea-salt ice cream, this is your chance to say!”

 

...Honestly, he wouldn't even know what he _would_ want, so he remained silent, and she shrugged. As she went off, she said, “Have fun playing with the others.”

 

Vanitas snorted. “I don't play around like some kind of kid...”

 

Roxas ran past him and he followed the sight of his boyfriend running. Barely a second after the blond had passed him, sand got kicked onto the black-haired male, and Hayner said, “Oops, meant to get Roxas.”

 

“...”

 

Pence said, “He's totally going to get you, Hayner. Look at his face!”

 

Vanitas began to stalk towards Hayner, who broke into a run which didn't last long since the other appeared being the blond in an instant and before anyone watching knew what happened, Hayner was lying face first in the sand with Vanitas sitting on his back, crossed-leg. Roxas then had to pull Vanitas off, trying to hold in his laughter, saying, “So much for not playing around...”

 

Vanitas huffed and said petulantly, “Oh please. You can't even count that as playing around.”

 

To make matters worse, Hayner thought it was an excellent idea to splash water on both Vanitas and Roxas—this then lead to everyone being covered head to toe in sand somehow because it turned into an all out war.

 

Pence said, “I had a feeling this would happen...”

 

Hayner replied, “Worth it. I got him a few times!”

 

“Hey guys, room for one more?”

 

Vanitas looked in the direction of the voice and he scowled at the red head, who said, “Hey, I was invited too, remember?”

 

The black-haired male gave an unkind smile and said, “That's too bad.”

 

Axel sighed and replied, “Look man, I'm sorry. It really was an honest mistake.”

 

A heavy silence hung in between them and Roxas frowned, stepping forward about to open his mouth in an attempt to diffuse the situation. Instead, Vanitas held his hand out to keep the blond from stepping forward. He sneered and said, “People like you are the kind I hate the most. Why don't you tell me what you really think of me?”

 

“What is your problem?”

 

“ _Maybe I just hate you_!”

 

Roxas cut in, saying, “Stop! Vani, there's...really no reason to pick a fight with him.”

 

Vanitas sulked and then suddenly kicked a ton of sand at Axel, spraying him full of it. A smirk happened on his lips and he replied, “Now we're even.”

 

His lover opened his mouth and closed it, shaking his head.

 

The red head looked down at himself and then back at Vanitas. “ _Really_?”

 

When Olette returned, looking back at everyone, who looked like they walked through a sandstorm, she asked, “Really?”

 

Xion shrugged with a bit of a helpless smile. But then reached for one of the ice creams she was holding and passed it to the others, with Vanitas staring at his for the longest time after...the smug look vanished from his face.

 

Roxas smiled and then his eyes met up with Vanitas'. “Not so bad, was it?”

 

Vanitas looked at the ice cream again and said, “Maybe.”

 

The blond blinked and said, “Maybe's just a baby that won't say yes.”

 

Then, he laughed when Vanitas nudged him and of course returned it, starting a small battle.

 

…

 

As soon as they stepped into Roxas' place, the blond asked, “...we're going to really need a bath before hitting the hay.”

 

Except, it somehow ended up with the two in the same bathtub. Luckily, it was big enough for the both of them, though Roxas was laughing a little when he said, “You know, this isn't what I had in mind when I said take a bath.”

 

He only received a smirk in response, so he took revenge and sprinkled water onto Vanitas' face, who glared at him.

 

Roxas laughed until he got splashed in the face in retaliation. Which of course was the precursor to the two fooling around in the bath, splashing each other for a good amount of time until they looked like two wet, drenched cats respectively. “Okay, we need to actually focus on getting clean, so c'mon...”

 

He then thought of something and asked, “Hey, Vanitas, have you ever shampoo'd your hair before?”

 

When Vanitas stopped scrubbing his scarred arms, he stared at the blond like he had two heads and guessed that was a 'no'. He then said, “Hold on, I've got a lot of shampoo...”

 

So then began Roxas lathering Vanitas' hair in shampoo and surprisingly, he didn't seem to mind. It took a lot to get to his scalp, but once the blond massaged it in, he was done. He blinked as Vanitas was resting his head upon the side of the tub...and heard a soft snore.

 

...He laughed and shook the raven-haired male a little. “Vani, wake up, I need to condition it.”

 

Roxas heard Vanitas grumble, but he was allowed to pour water over his head to get the shampoo out. When he worked on getting the conditioner in, he wasn't surprised Vanitas nodded off again.

 

The blond went to unplug the water stopper in the tub, smiling to himself as Vanitas didn't move. Then he turned on the showerhead, waking the other up, and receiving a dirty look. Roxas said, “Come on lazy bones, we need to make it _really_ comes out of your hair and scrub down.”

 

“Whatever...”

 

Roxas then asked, “Hey, Vanitas?”

 

“What?”

 

The blond sighed. “Why did you pick a fight with him?”

 

A bit of silence came over the two but finally Vanitas said, “Because he abandoned you. Remember what you told me earlier? Idiot deserved worse than I gave him.”

 

Roxas smiled slightly. On one hand, he felt kind of warm that Vanitas cared so much, but on the other … he felt it was resolved, and in the way he wanted it to be—with little fanfare. “There's no need to worry about that anymore, okay? We made up awhile ago.”

 

“...Tch.”

 

The blond laughed a little and said, “Thanks for thinking of me, though.”

 

Vanitas felt a kiss on his cheek and couldn't protest that at all in the slightest.

 

…

 

The two got ready for bed after lying against each other and watching some TV. As they lay in the dark, however, a worry kept Vanitas awake. He heard Roxas ask, “What's wrong?”

 

He saw blue eyes staring at him. “...Nothing.”

 

“You're not fooling me.”

 

Vanitas groaned and heard the other ask, “It's about tomorrow, isn't it?”

 

Tomorrow, they'd face the older man, who's sure to have an answer for them. They'd agreed on the date yesterday since it was a weekend anyway. Still, despite it all, Roxas could tell Vanitas expected the worse.

 

He shifted and put his arms around the darker haired male, pulling him close. “I told you, didn't I? I'd stand with you no matter what. We've got each other's backs.”

 

He heard a soft, vulnerable-sounding, “Why?”

 

Roxas didn't even have to think. “Because I love you.”

 

He felt Vanitas shift and press a kiss against his lips before wrapping his arms tightly around the blond. “...You're an idiot.”

 

Roxas grinned and said, “Says the biggest one.”

 

He got the stink eye for that, but shortly Vanitas muttered, “Roxas...”

 

“Yeah?”

 

A pause proceeded, but Roxas was patient. He heard Vanitas say, “I...”

 

When the other shyly murmured the rest of those words, the blond felt a warmth in his chest, and soon, they both fell asleep, feeling varying degrees of more confidence to what tomorrow would bring.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's finished! I think I'm going to continue to work on my Rokuvan series after this. I also didn't expect so many people to like this, which was a bonus as I was writing it for just one person. Thanks guys and hopefully the ending was okay :)


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